Algeria-Qatar Pact to set up steel plant in Bellara industrial zone

Qatari Minister of Economy and Finance Yousef Hussein Kamal is to start Saturday a two-day working visit to Algeria.During the visit, the Qatari minister along with Algerian Minister of Industry, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Investment Promotion, Mohamed Benmeradi, will sign a final agreement on building an iron and steel plant in the Algerian city of Jijel. * The Qatari-Algerian agreement signing ceremony to be held in the capital, Algiers, will be followed by a press conference addressed by the Minister of Economy and Finance. * Qatari Minister Kamal will hold talks with a number of Algerian officials on bilateral relations and ways to develop them, particularly in the fields of economy and finance. * In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Media Consultant for the Algerian Industry Minister Mohamed Abdulrahmani said that the Algerian government has proposed that the joint venture between Qatar, Algeria and a German company will be located in the Bellara industry zone near Jijel. * Abdulrahmani pointed to a previous statement by Mohamed Benmeradi, saying that the plant will produce 2.5mn tonnes of long steel in its first phase, and is likely to produce 5mn tonnes of long, flat and special steel in the second phase. * The two sides are currently preparing a preliminary study that will determine all the technical aspects of this ambitious project. * The joint venture steel mill will be 49% owned by Qatar and 51% owned by Algeria in accordance to the Algerian investment law.